The Agora was the kind of place that gave Alex a headache. The acoustics never let sounds die. Instead they bounced around until everything became a slurry of echoes, impossible to separate. Dozens of voices echoed up into the vaulted ceiling, overlapping with the whisk, whisk, whisk sound of students moving, some shuffling, some rushing through on their way to classes.
The posters were worse. Stapled at random angles across the various corkboards around the room, all layered on top of one another. Crooked and with corners curling up like peeling paint, announcing last year's student council elections, bands coming to the Outpost, improv nights, and gently used textbooks for sale: cheaper than at the book store, probably the same edition being used in this year’s classes. He wanted to straighten them all, pin them edge-to-edge in neat rows.
Or just rip them all down. Nobody else seemed to care.
And the room always smelled of burnt coffee, BO and floor wax.
Alex stood with his friends under the long floating stone staircase headed up to the big auditorium above. His head hurt.
He loved and hated this room. It was a convenient central hub and the easiest place to meet up between classes, but there were usually too many people and it was always way too loud. Plus the sheer number of fluorescent lights overhead buzzing away... It drove him nuts if he stayed too long.
Without thinking about it, he started listing and cataloging the noise the same way other people might hum to distract themselves: three overlapping conversations, the squeak of wet shoes, clatter of a dropped pen bouncing down at least five of the broad steps above… Patterns. If he focused on the patterns, it was bearable.
Distracting enough that he could half-listen to his friends despite his discomfort at least. They were laughing and yelling – and it was entirely too loud and too early in the day for any of it.
But the latest episode of Dungeon Inc. had dropped yesterday and the highlight reels were all over the show’s Youtube page, not to mention the Herobook posts. So today, that was all anyone was going to be talking about.
“...did you see Hiro’s crit fail? All I could think was How could you expect your fist to hurt that thing?” Jason said as he jumped up a few steps and back down again, miming the failed punch.
“It made the one that landed that much more satisfying though right?” Matteo said as he watched another of their friends play the Ogre boss taking the punch and laughing at Hiro-Jason’s pitiful effort.
Jun threw up his hands, “I don’t know. I thought it was a lame setup. It was way too quick. Way too: Oh no, he can't hurt that monster with a mere punch – but wait! Why is he looking at his fist? Oh look, NOW he can hurt the giant two-faced ogre thing – of course, because he stared at his fists! Yay!”
“It was an Ettin,” said Ryan, interrupting the tirade.
“They never said that though.”
“No, they didn’t know what it was. But it was an Ettin,” Ryan said with authority.
“Well, whatever it was, they really should have foreshadowed the flamey-fist of death thing way earlier in the show. The writing is really falling off man,” finished Jun, the ever-critical. The other guys all boo’d him and rained down fake punches until he relented and took back what he said.
“Well, maybe the writing,” Diego conceded, laughing, “but not the acting. Did you see the look on Kade’s face after he plunged his daggers in that thing and they had basically no effect? I mean, that would be terrifying in real life, but it looked like he was going to piss himself for real on the show.”
“How do they come up with that shit? They have got to have a ton of writers on staff to crank out 3 shows every week,” Jason chimed back in. He turned to Alex and Ryan and continued “I mean, it’s no Side Quest Heroes – that show is epic and whoever writes that one needs a huge pay raise.”
Alex smiled and Ryan and Jake both bowed deeply as all their friends cheered and threw out praise for their own long running, actual-play show.
Turning away, Alex sipped at his morning soda, staring past the heads of the crowd, eyes drawn to the front of the building and the giant teepee outside.
His green hair reflected back at him out of the corner of his eye in the glass windows of the office, messy and too bright for his mood. Maybe he should dye it black again. He wondered if Marissa would hate that? Probably. She’d hated most of his hobbies by the end.
“Shit, it’s almost 10:30, gotta jet to sociology class,” Jake said. Jun followed and one by one, his friends peeled off in singles and pairs until it was just him and Ryan, his best friend since primary school.
Ryan tapped Alex’s shoulder with a notebook. “Hey. You okay, man? You’ve been moping around like a kicked puppy since the, y’know…” He let the word ‘breakup’ hang in the air.
Alex shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“Uh–huh. Sure. Look, sulking’s not a good look. You need a distraction. A hobby or something.”
Alex gave a dry laugh. “Pretty sure it's my hobbies that got me dumped.” Positive actually.
Marissa sat at the café table, chin propped in her hand, eyes glazed as he explained his encounter-balancing for a new dungeon. She’d said nothing for ten minutes, just listened and then cut in right before he was almost done anyway: “You care more about dice-time than you care about date-time.” The words still buzzed in his head like a neon sign.
It wasn't true of course, he was crazy about her. But she just didn’t get the gaming parts of his life and once she had said it, he couldn’t stop testing the theory. Did he care too much about the game? About stories? It wasn’t JUST a game, it was a business. They had sponsors and patrons and ads on the channel. He had to take it seriously.
He thought of her hair slipping over her shoulder as she left; of her shoelace dragging on the floor. That stupid shoelace haunted him more than her words. His brain replayed it over and over like a sad song stuck in his head. He was pretty sure that untied shoelace was some kind of sad metaphor for his relationship.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He shook his head. “You think I should double down? Perfect! From now on we game for 6 hours Monday, Wednesday and Friday – with epically long runs on Saturdays.”
“That would be killer for our twitch ratings dude. No wait. I have Anthropology class on Wednesdays. Can’t do it,” Ryan said, laughing. “No, I was thinking maybe a normie hobby. Like… um… jogging?” He couldn’t say it without screwing up his face though. Ryan hadn’t jogged since being forced to in grade 9 gym class.
“Ok, maybe not jogging. But, you know, something that you don’t obsess over and can still... oh, wait – dude, I almost forgot!” He spun around towards the front doors and started walking, beckoning Alex to follow. “Come here. You’ve gotta see this.”
Ryan led him up the small steps to the bulletin board near the doors. Alex held his breath as they passed a group of people wearing way too much perfume.
“There! Look” Ryan stabbed a poster on the edge of the board, practically jumping up and down with excitement. “Not something you won’t obsess over unfortunately, but still…”
Alex frowned at the chaotic collage of coloured flyers stapled six layers deep. But there, on the left side, hanging by a single staple in the top left corner, was a fresh and glossy poster splashed with bold red letters:
DUNGEON INC. IS HIRING.
The world's hottest entertainment franchise is expanding!
Adventurers Wanted
Campus Interviews
The poster showed a group of armored figures silhouetted against a blazing portal of fire, the company’s logo was stamped in the corner like a brand. At the bottom was a QR code.
It looked like it had been designed by a marketing intern who thought red text was automatically epic. Definitely an intern. He had spent a lot of time with photoshop before AI made crazy fantasy realm pictures easy and instant. He imagined some intern hammering this out at 2 a.m. and shoving it through a copier.
An intern that sucked at graphics work. The fonts all clashed, there had to be 5 different ones screaming for attention. The vector-crisp logo stuck out against a badly upscaled fire background. The centering was off on at least 4 of the lines and the QR code took up the whole bottom of the page margin. Prime eye-line territory!
He wondered what the click-through rates would be for this crap online and realized two things 1. It was Dungeon Inc. so they would be incredibly high and 2. Ryan was still talking.
Alex stared. “Huh?”
Ryan smirked. “Apparently they’re doing interviews all over North America. Guess they’re expanding the show. You should apply.”
Alex blinked at his friend. Going on stage – even in front of a small crew – and having to act? His heart was instantly beating too fast. “I don’t think so. I’m no actor.”
“Who says they want actors? This is a generic ad. Maybe they’re looking for writers, storytellers, people who know the game. That’s literally you. You’re the guy! You run campaigns three nights a week and we’ve got, what? A couple thousand viewers now? Dude, you’ve already got a following. That's gotta give you a leg up in any interview!”
Alex opened his mouth, then closed it again. He was here at Lakehead University studying Computer Science – not acting or writing. The idea was absurd. Too absurd. But Ryan was watching him with that stubborn look that meant he’d already decided for both of them. “Are you applying too?”
“Of course! C’mon,” Ryan pressed, “what’s the worst that can happen? You scan the code, you fill out a form, they ghost you. Best case? You’re living the dream. Real monsters, real dungeon, real loot.”
“Real dead,” Alex muttered.
Ryan laughed. “Exactly! But all fake, because it's a TV show. It’s uh…” Ryan fished around for the right term, twirling one hand in the air like he was going to net an answer. “It’s Fake-Reality! And after it's all done and over, you go home rich and popular!”
“It’s probably not even very exciting. All green screen stages and green spandex wearing stand-ins for the monsters.” Ryan just stared at him.
Alex hesitated a moment later, then, sighing, pulled out his phone. The QR code skewed into focus on his screen.
The site wasn’t flashy at all. Black background, silver-white text, segmented tabs. The high contrast was nice. It looked less like an entertainment site and more like a government job portal though, which made it worse. Clinical. Real. He scanned the disclaimers at the bottom first – because his brain always went there.
It was all indemnity clauses, non-disclosure agreements, mention of “non-standard workplace hazards.” That last line lit up in his brain like a neon sign. Workplace hazards? In a TV show? They probably considered the food service truck being late for coffee time a non-standard workplace hazard.
The words Application Portal glared back up at him. He exhaled through his nose, thumb hovering over the screen.
“Fine. I’ll check it out.”
Ryan clapped him on the back. “That’s my guy.”
“I’ve gotta get to class.” Ryan was all smiles while he scanned the QR code himself, talking about all the fake adventures they’d have. Alex didn’t say what he was really thinking: I’ll check it out, but I’m not going to hit send.
───────────────────────────────────────────────
DUNGEON INC. IS HIRING
The world's hottest entertainment franchise is expanding!
?? ADVENTURERS WANTED! ??
Campus Interviews
───────────────────────────────────────────────
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to survive in a new world?
Do you want to be part of the world’s most dangerous reality show?
Dungeon Inc. is looking for NEW RECRUITS to
join our ongoing season of high–stakes adventure.
? Battle monsters
? Explore dungeons
? Earn glory (and prizes!)
? Stream your legend worldwide
No acting experience required, but may be helpful.
We’re looking for STUDENTS, GAMERS, ATHLETES,
DREAMERS & STORYTELLERS.
** ALL CAMPUSES. ALL BACKGROUNDS. ALL HERO TYPES **
───────────────────────────────────────────────
FINAL ROUND OF CAMPUS INTERVIEWS
Lakehead University
Thursday & Friday, Noon–6PM
───────────────────────────────────────────────
SCAN THE CODE BELOW TO APPLY ONLINE
[ ▓▓▓ QR CODE HERE ▓▓▓ ]
YOUR STORY STARTS HERE.
WILL YOU ANSWER THE CALL?
Dungeon Inc. recruits individuals from all backgrounds who demonstrate adaptability, creativity, and the ability to perform under pressure and in high-stimulus environments.
Prior experience with gaming systems, storytelling frameworks, or competitive problem-solving is considered an asset. Prior combat experience or acting credentials are a bonus, but not required.
What matters most is your capacity to learn, respond, and tell a compelling story.
Successful applicants should expect long hours, non-standard work environments, and challenges unlike anything they have previously encountered.
Dungeon Inc. does not offer jobs. We offer opportunities.
Excerpt from Dungeon Inc. Applicant Orientation Packet
Public Distribution — Version 3.8.12
Hey everyone!
Thanks for taking the time to check out my crazy little mashup of a story. I'll be dropping chapters all day until I hit 20k words, after that It'll be 1 chapter per day.
I am a new writer here on RR, so your reviews and ratings and especially follows mean a ton - please consider taking a moment to help if you like my story!
In fact, I think I'm legally obliged to tell you to SMASH that follow button at the very least and don't forget to comment and let me know what you think!
